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I admit that the release preview isn't as bad compared to the consumer as they fixed some of the problems like the login screen (only requiring a click to login) and you can access the control panel from the charms menu if you in the classic desktop. Still, Windows 8 is still very disorientating and I dislike metro... It just doesn't work with laptops and desktops that uses a keyboard and mouse. Even with a multi-touch trackpad, it's still gives a sour experience. To make it worse, you can't turn off metro completely if you don't want to use it.

This is where I think Mac and Linux got it right... they don't mess around with the desktop workflow. Yeah, Unity and Gnome 3 has turned off people, but you can use other desktop environments if you don't like it... even so, you can still multitask with multiple windows... Windows 8 is just awkward and Microsoft shouldn't have messed around with Windows 7, which the workflow is already prefect.

I admit that the release preview isn't as bad compared to the consumer as they fixed some of the problems like the login screen (only requiring a click to login) and you can access the control panel from the charms menu if you in the classic desktop. Still, Windows 8 is still very disorientating and I dislike metro... It just doesn't work with laptops and desktops that uses a keyboard and mouse. Even with a multi-touch trackpad, it's still gives a sour experience. To make it worse, you can't turn off metro completely if you don't want to use it.

This is where I think Mac and Linux got it right... they don't mess around with the desktop workflow. Yeah, Unity and Gnome 3 has turned off people, but you can use other desktop environments if you don't like it... even so, you can still multitask with multiple windows... Windows 8 is just awkward and Microsoft shouldn't have messed around with Windows 7, which the workflow is already prefect.

The worst part is that they HAVE put work in improvements under the hood in the desktop area and I don't really mind the Metro START screen anymore (if anything it seems kinda easier to navigate to whatever I want to run). Removing the fish was a nice bonus, and they do feel faster than 7 (I'm dual booting with 7). But the whole Metro apps approach and the Xbox tags everywhere just... feel like crap. The Metro apps in particular, maybe save the Photo app that's ALMOST decent for the one thing it can do, are beyond crap even in the Release Preview. Do they really want me to use Metro apps instead? If they do, I can't feel the love. Those are some of the worst apps I've run and the "fullscreen everything" plus 66/33 split just doesn't work.

Still, Windows 8 is still very disorientating and I dislike metro... It just doesn't work with laptops and desktops that uses a keyboard and mouse. Even with a multi-touch trackpad, it's still gives a sour experience. To make it worse, you can't turn off metro completely if you don't want to use it.

This is where I think Mac and Linux got it right... they don't mess around with the desktop workflow. Yeah, Unity and Gnome 3 has turned off people, but you can use other desktop environments if you don't like it... even so, you can still multitask with multiple windows... Windows 8 is just awkward and Microsoft shouldn't have messed around with Windows 7, which the workflow is already prefect.

You can't turn off the Start screen and the edge UIs, but you're not forced to use Metro-style apps. Other than that, the desktop, with all the multitasking and multiple windows, is no worse, and even better in some parts, than Windows 7, like multi-monitor support.

Quote:

Originally Posted by npal

But the whole Metro apps approach and the Xbox tags everywhere just... feel like crap. The Metro apps in particular, maybe save the Photo app that's ALMOST decent for the one thing it can do, are beyond crap even in the Release Preview. Do they really want me to use Metro apps instead? If they do, I can't feel the love. Those are some of the worst apps I've run and the "fullscreen everything" plus 66/33 split just doesn't work.

I have only seen one Xbox "tag" on a fresh install of the release preview.

As for Metro-style apps, the point of having them in Windows 8 is to get people to at least try them. You can expect that many of the apps will improve over time, especially once Windows 8 is released, and new and better apps will arrive on the store if there's enough developer interest.

The charms bar and hot corners are what kill Windows 8 for me. I prefer the Start menu, but I got used to the Start screen in 8 eventually. However, the charms bar and hot corners get in the way constantly on the desktop, and there's no way to turn them off. It's ridiculous to have window management widgets and charms/hot corners share the same real estate on the desktop.

Hot corners sucks for multimonitor setups even though its somewhat improved. I sorta like the concept for single monitor, though execution isn't really that good.

Elements accessed by hot corners take up zero screen realestate unless being used. They are easy to access too since corners are easy places to put a mouse.

Personally, the biggest change I want out of the edge stuff is for the metro app switcher to also have individual desktop apps which are open, instead of the desktop as one app. Or put it on the bottom of the screen and integrate it with the taskbar in desktop mode.

The problem I have with hot corners is that they interfere with my particular workflow. I use a trackball and I'm used to "flicking" the pointer to the corners for window management. In Windows 8 that often brings up the charms bar when I am using the trackball to minimize/maximize/close a window. It's the same sort of effect you get with the "Aero peek" feature in Windows 7, but at least you can turn that off. That's what irks me about 8, these features are fine but you should be able to disable them if you want, especially if you are only interested in using desktop mode.

I think the whole Metro approach is a failure for large screens/multiple screens. It makes sense on a small touch device like a phone, and possibly a tablet, but not a desktop computer. WIMP has worked for the desktop for over two decades now. Microsoft learned the hard way that trying to cram the desktop paradigm down to a phone doesn't work (hence Windows CE/Windows Mobile failed). Now they are trying to go the other way, they found something that works on a phone and are trying to cram it up into the desktop.

The problem I have with hot corners is that they interfere with my particular workflow. I use a trackball and I'm used to "flicking" the pointer to the corners for window management. In Windows 8 that often brings up the charms bar when I am using the trackball to minimize/maximize/close a window. It's the same sort of effect you get with the "Aero peek" feature in Windows 7, but at least you can turn that off. That's what irks me about 8, these features are fine but you should be able to disable them if you want, especially if you are only interested in using desktop mode.

The Charms don't actually activate until you move the pointer along the right edge. They just appear when you move the pointer to the right corners so that people will know they're there.

So, technically, you can just do all your window management and ignore the Charms as long as you don't activate the Charms.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vexx

If they'd just get a grip on the notion that different regimes require different solutions on the interface but still have the same branding - none of this would be an issue.

Unfortunately, they're trying that with Windows Phone, and it hasn't been widely successful. They've also tried the other extreme where it's just Windows with touch capabilities, aka Windows Tablet PC, and that has its own share of problems.

So now they've settled on two different UIs, but having them both in one operating system that has proven to be a commercial success. It gets more consumers and developers exposure to the Metro environment, which may or may not make them want that experience on the tablet. And the iPad-like tablet space is where Microsoft is trying to enter. They're comfortable in the desktop space.

They will lose that desktop space by the next decade if they keep doing what they are now.

Unless, of course, what they are doing now is well received by the general public once Windows 8 is released.

But don't worry, they'll always take into account the feedback they receive for the next version of Windows. Right now they just need to get Metro out into the mainstream consciousness, for better or for worse. In Windows 9, they'll either scale back Metro from Windows or make it even more prominent.